Classic Wedding Filled With Filipino Traditions At San Francisco City Hall

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March 5, 2024

The Planning

Design / Vibe / Vision

We love the fall season so we incorporated natural browns and oranges in our color palette along with some neutral tones. We let the beautiful architecture of San Francisco City Hall speak for itself for our ceremony. As for the reception, fortunately the space was beautiful on its own. We added a few details with the help of some of our family and friends helping with signage and party favors.

Proposal Story

Nikko planned a surprise engagement in the disguise of his aunt's "surprise birthday party". We took a road trip to see the family and attend this "birthday party". As we arrived to the party, I was pretty upset that we were too late for the surprise as I noticed his aunt's car already out front. As we walked up to the backyard, I immediately saw my best friends and sisters all gathered up and bunched up together with Nikko's family like they were taking a group photo.. I was immediately confused. I was thinking in my head, "Aw man, they're already taking pictures without us, but wait what are my best friends and sisters doing here?!" Then, I hear Bruno Mar's song "Marry Me" start to blast in the background and they unveil a balloon arch with plants around it with a sign "Marry Me?".. Another layer of confusion set upon me, as I was still processing as to how and why my close friends and family were here!! Nikko got on one knee and proposed with both hands full as I was holding his aunts birthday present and cake. Right then and there as he shook my hand and asked me again, "Jay, will you marry me?!" I dropped everything I was carrying and cried as I said YES. Fast forward to now, I'm still in shock as to how he kept all this a secret especially during a pandemic.

Getting Ready

Flat Lays

The Fashion

Groomsman Attire

The search for the perfect suit was quite overwhelming. We shopped virtually and in person for hours for the best suit before making a decision. Seeing the photos by our awesome photographers, I say we made the perfect decision. Jay wore a classic black tuxedo with onyx dress shirt buttons and cuff link and Nikko wore a white top tuxedo stitched with my initials and our wedding date. We matched our cuff links, which we thought of the day of. We were very much giving a yin and yang moment, as Nikko would describe it.

Ceremony

The Details

Food & Drink

During cocktail hour we wanted guests to enjoy foods that we personally enjoy: Vegetable lumpia, chicken and pork skewers, and shrimp kinilaw which is a shrimp dish served raw with chilis, ginger and onion. For our main entrees, guests were served smoked hen (chicken option), crispy lechon pork belly (pork), crispy octopus (seafood), squash okoy fritter (veg). Accompaniments were cucumber and melon salad, java rice, and vegetable Pancit. To finish off the night, we treated guests one last bite. Since we were moving to Japan in November, we decided to serve guests Spam Masubi, Tuna Onigiri, and furikake fries.

Florals & Decor

We had large size floral bouquets throughout the venue. The tables had multiple fall themed center pieces with several amber glass tea candles and a custom made coaster with our name and wedding date for each guest. We also had a welcome sign surrounded by tall plants and large size bouquet matching our centerpieces.

Wedding Cake

Our dessert featured an ube-flavored cake with coconut, known as "ube macapuno," a popular Filipino cake/dessert flavor. Additionally, we included "taho," a well-known Filipino street food dessert made with silkened tofu, brown sugar, and tapioca pearls. The combination celebrated our Filipino heritage and brought a touch of nostalgia for Jay and our friends and family.

Special Detail #1

We hired Golden State Trolley to shuttle our guests to the ceremony and back to the hotel for the reception. It was a wonderful addition to our special day because it allowed guests to come together and celebrate before the nuptials. According to our family and friends, our signature drinks were a hit. We incorporated ube, which is a purple yam commonly used in Filipino desserts, in an espresso maritini and a gin fizz topped with sea salt made with volcanic ashes of the Philippines— known as “asin tibuok”.

Couple Portraits